CHAPTER VI. 



FERNS WITH COLOURED OR TINTED FRONDS. 



OR the formation of this section we are again indebted 

 exclusively to the exotic species ; as, with the exception of 

 the variations in shades of green, no Fern of European origin 

 finds a place in the list. Yet Japan vies with tropical and 

 North America, as well as with the East and West Indies, 

 in the spontaneous production of such Ferns, some of which are possessed of a 

 foliage which, for either richness of colour or delicacy of tints, is as greatly 

 admired as many of our flowering plants are for their floral display. 



In the arrangement, of a Fernery the usefulness of these colourings is 

 obvious, and the advantages to be derived from the use of such plants for 

 that purpose are so manifest as to scarcely require any illustration. When 

 formed into groups exclusively by themselves, or when disposed among other 

 Ferns lacking bright colours, the kinds with tinted fronds are truly beautiful, 

 and greatly add to the appearance and general effect of the stove or green- 

 house in which they are grown — for it may be stated here that kinds of Ferns 

 with coloured fronds are adapted equally for warm or for cool cultivation. 

 The brightest hues are, it is true, found among plants requiring the tempera- 

 ture of the warm-house, where a greater amount of heat and a comparatively 

 greater- quantity of moisture appear to favour the production of bright colours 

 in Ferns, as they do in the case of other plants with decorative foliage. The 

 Ferns belonging to this section are also found among the large-growing kinds 

 as well as among those of smaller dimensions, thus giving their cultivator free 

 scope for placing them in all parts of the house in which they are grown. 



